Interesting facts about Slovakia

slovakia flag

Slovakia is a central European country known for its dramatic natural landscape and many castles.

Slovakia is officially known as the Slovak Republic.

The official language is Slovak.

Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south.

As of 1 January 2016, the population of Slovakia was estimated to be 5,432,931 people.

Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, is set along the Danube River by the border with Austria and Hungary.It is the capital in the world bordering two countries.

bratislava

Slovak beautiful nature contains from lowlands, undulating mountain ranges, mountain pastures up to the majestic Tatras situated here, which are the smallest high mountains in Europe.

Gerlachovsky Stit at 2.655 meters (8.710 feet) is the highest point in Slovakia. For of its height and breathtaking scenery it is one of the most visited and challenging peaks.

gerlachovsky stit

There are 9 National Parks and 14 Natural Reserves in Slovakia.

More than 6,000 caves have been discovered in Slovakia so far! Most spectacular caves can be found in the national parks of Low Tatras, Slovak Paradise and Slovak Karst.

Ochtinska Aragonite Cave is a unique aragonite cave situated in southern Slovakia, near Rožňava.Although only 300 meters long, it is famous for its rare aragonite filling.There are only three aragonite caves discovered in the world so far other two caves are in Mexico and Argentina.

ochtinska aragonite cave

Slovakia’s wildlife is abundant and diverse; Tatry (High Tatras) National Park shelters an exceptional collection of wild animals, including bears, wolves, lynx, wildcats, marmots, otters, martens, and minks.

There are more than 1300 mineral springs in Slovakia that are used like curative water and high quality mineral water for drinking. There are 21 thermal spas built on these mineral springs.

There are 7 UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Slovakia.

The ruins of Spiš Castle in eastern Slovakia form one of the largest castle sites in Central Europe.

spis castle

Banská Štiavnica is a town in central Slovakia, in the middle of an immense caldera created by the collapse of an ancient volcano. It is a completely preserved medieval town.

banska stiavnica

Vlkolínec, situated in the center of Slovakia, is a remarkably intact settlement of 45 buildings with the traditional features of a central European village. It is the region’s most complete group of these kinds of traditional log houses, often found in mountainous areas.

vlkolinec

The picturesque village of Čičmany in Northern Slovakia has a status of world’s first reservation of folk architecture (founded in 1977).The first preserved reference to the village dates from 1272. After a great fire in 1921, the village was restored to its original appearance with generous contributions by the state.

cicmany

Carpathian Wooden Churches is the name of a UNESCO World Heritage Site that consists of nine wooden religious buildings constructed between the 16th and 18th centuries in eight different locations in Slovakia.

wooden church slovakia

Old medieval town of Levoča is a home of the highest wooden altar in the world. This remarkable work was created by Master Paul. It is located in Church of St. James right in the historical centre of Levoča. 18,6 meters (61 feet) high and 6 meters (19.6 feet) wide altar was made without the use of a single nail!

highest wooden altar in the world

Slovakia has the world’s highest number of castles and châteaux per capita.There are 180 castles and 425 chateaux.

castle slovakia

Beautiful Slovakia opal mines in eastern Slovakia are admired in the whole world and now the mines became a valuable technical monument.

slovakia opal mines

The Venus of Moravany is a small prehistoric female figurine discovered in Slovakia early in the 20th century.It is made of mammoth tusk ivory and is dated to 22,800 BC, which places it in upper Paleolithic times.

venus of moravany

Ivan Bella was the first Slovak citizen in space, having participated in a 9-day joint Russian-French-Slovak mission on the space station Mir in 1999.

Tennis champion Martina Hingis (born in 1980), former World No. 1 and winner of 5 Grand Slam singles titles and 9 Grand Slam women’s doubles titles, was born in Slovakia to a Slovak father and a Czech mother.

The most famous American of Slovak descent is probably pop artist Andy Warhol (1928-1987), whose parents immigrated from Miková in north-eastern Slovakia.

The Košice Peace Marathon is the oldest marathon in Europe and the second-oldest in the world (after the Boston Marathon ).The first course was held in 1924.

90% of Slovaks have completed at least secondary education – the highest score in the EU (along with Poles, Czechs, and Slovenes).

Slovak women marry the youngest (average 24 years old) within the European Union, along with Lithuanian and Polish women.

Staff of Slovak and Slovenian embassies meet once a month with their colleagues to exchange wrongly-addressed mail!